


Magic

by universeEnthusiast



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, fluffy stuff bc honestly this ship is so good for fluff, guardian nino becase i will die on that hill, this is one of those Adrien's An Actual Cat AUS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universeEnthusiast/pseuds/universeEnthusiast
Summary: Things magic doesnt care about:- term papers- what we wantThings magic does apparently care about:- Adrien's relationship with Nino





	1. Chapter 1

“Psst. Nino.”

Nino looked up from his assignment. It was quite late, and the library had been empty except for him when he’d come in, so where could that voice have possibly come from?

He decided he must have imagined it, since there hadn’t been any noise in a while, there couldn’t be anyone nearby, and he was admittedly quite tired.

“Nino,” came the voice again, soft and quiet, as if trying to be polite in the library despite it truly not mattering at this time of night.

“H… hello?” Nino swallowed, wondering if this was the beginning of a real life horror flick, and if it was, if the plotline was that he was being haunted or that he’d been driven insane by his term paper.

“Down here.” came the little voice.

Nino looked down at his papers, then to the chair next to him and then to the floor on the other side of his chair.

There, one paw hesitantly hovering near his leg, as if undecided as to whether to touch him, sat one black cat with big green eyes and a splotch of golden fur between its ears.

Nino stared at it for a moment, wondering how a cat got into the library, and why it was sitting by his feet.

He was also wondering where the voice had come from, since it couldn’t have come from the cat.

“Haha, hey,” the cat said in what almost sounded like a nervous tone, proving him very, very wrong, and providing very, very strong evidence for the ‘driven insane by term papers’ theory.

“Hey,” Nino said, completely beyond the realm of considering why by this point.

“Now,” the cat shuffled a little, his black tail curling around his paws. “I know this is pretty freaky, so just bear with me here.”

“Uh huh,” Nino glanced back at his assignment, reconsidering the three or four energy drinks he’d had earlier.

“And I am so sorry that this happened now,” the cat continued. “But unfortunately, magic really doesn’t care about our term papers.”

The cat lifted a paw and seemed to point at the table.

“May I?” he asked, and Nino wasn’t sure why that sounded so familiar, but he shook it off.

“Sure,” he said.

In a single little bound, the cat was on top of the table.

“Oh, sorry,” it backed away from his assignment. “You probably don’t want any pawprints on that, haha.”

“Yeah,” Nino offered hollowly. “Um. What… what exactly is happening right now?”

“I need your help, doofus,” the cat replied in highly familiar-sounding friendly teasing.

“How… how am I supposed to help you?” Nino blinked. “I don’t… don’t know much about cats.”

“Yeah, but you know about magic, right?” the cat cocked his little head. “Hasn’t Master Fu been teaching you about it?”

“How do you know who that is?!” Nino hissed, immediately snapping to defence mode.

The little animal flinched, and Nino didn’t know too much about cats, but he did know that when one’s ears went back, they were either angry or scared.

“Sorry, little dude,” Nino softened. “But… how… how do you know who that is?”

“Don’t you…” the cat’s big green eyes blew wide, but it still looked afraid. “Can’t you tell it’s me?”

Nino squinted.

“I think I’d remember if I met a talking cat,” he frowned. “But I thought I’d heard your voice before, so… I don’t know, sorry.”

“Oh,” the cat said quietly, looking dejected. “That’s okay, Nino. Uh… I’ll just go and find Master Fu, then. My chances are probably better with him, anyway.”

Nino watched the cat pad his way to the edge of the table and hop down with an ungraceful thud.

“See you tomorrow, when I’m human again.” it said, pausing before heading into the shadows of the darkened library. “I hope…”

Nino blinked at the retreating feline and took his glasses off to massage the bridge of his nose, which had begun to ache with all the frowning and fatigue.

Where had he heard that voice before?

On TV, maybe? How could an actor be turned into a cat with magic? Especially the highly specific magic Nino had knowledge of? And how would an actor know Nino in the first place, let alone that he knew about that magic?

Then it hit him.

Maybe not an actor, but maybe a model.

“ADRIEN!” he yelped, and then his moment of ‘eureka’ changed to one of distress. “ADRIEN?”

The cat bolted back to him from the shadows.

“What? What?” it asked.

Nino got up from his chair so fast that the hand he’d used to push up from the table sent his assignment papers flying.

He snatched the cat up and held it to his face.

“Adrien?” he asked. “Adrien, is that you?”

“Yes?” the cat blinked. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Are you seriously a cat right now?” Nino looked him up and down. “For real?”

“It looks that way,” Adrien’s little cat head nodded.

“Why the fuck are you a cat?” Nino demanded in disbelief.

“I think Plagg tricked me.” Adrien said.

“Plagg did this?” Nino’s forehead was beginning to hurt from all the frowning again.

“He told me about something that could strengthen the bond between kwami and hero.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “What he didn’t tell me was that it would turn me into an actual cat.”

Nino closed his eyes, searching what he’d been learning from Master Fu for any scrap of information about this.

“I can’t think of anything,” he shook his head. “I’d ask Wayzz, but Fu has him till this weekend.”

“That’s okay, Nino,” Adrien said, gently encouraging. “It was a longshot anyway. You can finish your paper, I’ll go see Master Fu.”

“He’s on the other side of the city, dude.” Nino informed. “You’ll never make it before sunrise on these little things.”

He gave Adrien’s front paws a little shake for emphasis.

“But, your paper!” Adrien told him. “You’ll fail if you don’t get it done.”

“And you’ll be a cat forever unless I take you to Fu,” Nino contested, waxing distressed again. “’My grades, or my best bro and my duties as guardian?’ Hm, let’s see… uh, yeah, there’s no fucking competition here.”

Adrien seemed to have no response to this. He just blinked his pretty little kitty eyes.

“Good, glad we’re on the same page.” Nino nodded resolutely.

Still no comment from his feline friend.

Nino, in his sleepiness and mild panic, briefly wondered if this cat was actually Adrien, or if he’d been hallucinating it all, or having some kind of caffeine-crash induced fever dream.

“Nino?” Adrien asked, immediately staying his fears.

“Yeah?”

“Can you put me down, please?” the cat squirmed a little. “My arm-legs are getting sore.”

“Right!” Nino exclaimed, and it sounded far too loud in the empty library.

Nino gently placed Adrien on the table and rushed to gather up his papers and bag.

“Nino, slow down,” the cat said. “There’s no hurry.”

“It’s almost one a.m., dude,” Nino informed, checking how much phone battery he had.

“Well, still,” Adrien reached out with his right paw, which Nino now noticed had a tiny grey marking on one of the toes, and put it on Nino’s hand. “It’s not like i’m dying or anything.”

“We don’t know that,” Nino replied, giving the paw a little squeeze before he shoved the papers in his backpack, zipped it up and put his arms through the straps. “We need to get you back to normal asap.”

Nino then picked Adrien up and nestled him in his arms, holding him like he was the most fragile package anyone had ever had to deliver in history.

To Nino, he was.

“And we’re gonna get you back, my dude,” Nino looked down softly at his best friend as he headed for the door of the library. “No matter what.”


	2. Chapter 2

Nino had underestimated the weather. Or, perhaps he should say he overestimated it, in terms of temperature.

By the time he’d made it to Fu’s door, his fingers were numb from carrying Adrien in the cold of the autumn night, despite the soft black fur and the light jacket keeping the rest of his arms relatively warm.

Nino shifted Adrien to one side and reached up to knock.

His shaking hand didn’t make it in time. Master Fu opened the door before his knuckles could hit the wood, as if he’d known they were there.

“Come in,” Master Fu waved them inside.

Nino lowered Adrien to one of the pillows by the table and sat on the other himself.

Master Fu offered them each tea, Nino’s in a small cup and Adrien’s in what appeared to be a tiny bowl.

Nino took a gulp, eager for some warmth after the very long, very cold travel. Wayzz floated forth and hugged his cheek, which brought a second wave of warmth through his chest.

Adrien first reached out with a single paw, but remembered that he no longer had thumbs and lowered it again.

“I see Plagg has activated the bonding spell.” Master Fu sipped at his tea.

“So you know what it is,” Nino sighed in relief. “Do you know how to reverse it?”

“Of course,” the old man waved his hand dismissively. “The potion to reverse it will take five days, perhaps a week.”

“A whole week?” Adrien asked, his head raising from where he’d been lapping at the tea. “I can’t wait that long!”

“Dude!” Nino scolded, and opened his mouth to say more, but Master Fu silenced him with a hand.

“Be patient with him.” Fu spoke. “He has not been learning like you have.”

“Sorry,” Nino reached over and realised that there was no arm to rub apologetically, since Adrien was a cat.

Instead he hesitantly gave his friend’s soft little head two brief pats, and Adrien’s green eyes squinted slightly in what seemed to be enjoyment.

“Adrien,” Master Fu beckoned. “I am sorry, but magic does not care what we want. It gives what it needs to give us, nothing more, nothing less.”

Adrien gave a very small sigh and a sad nod.

“The potion cannot be rushed.” Fu told him. “One of the ingredients needs to be marinated and in direct sunlight for quite some time. This will take days.”

“Until then?” Adrien asked.

“Unless you satisfy the spell,” Master Fu took the empty cup and tiny bowl back to their tray beside the teapot. “You will remain as a cat.”

“Satisfy the spell?” Nino cocked his head.

“The bonding spell is used by kwamis to teach their holders something.” Fu informed. “Most often to show them something they did not see before.”

“Plagg wanted to teach me something?” Adrien’s tail flickered. “What did he want to teach me?”

“I do not know the mind of your kwami, Adrien.” Master Fu shook his head. “Plagg is as changeable as he is old. And if there is something he wants you to learn, then it is not for me to simply tell you.”

“Right,” Adrien sighed and rested his head on the table.

“I will begin to prepare the potion,” the old man told them. “But learning what Plagg wished to teach you may turn you back before it is complete. Perhaps you should ruminate on the matter.”

“Okay!” Adrien perked up, nodding frantically. “Okay, I will! Thank you, Master Fu!”

“Nino,” Fu tugged the Turtle Miraculous gently off his wrist and held it out. “Take Wayzz until Adrien is turned back. Ladybug will need your support if an akuma comes.”

“Thank you, Master.” Nino slipped the bracelet onto his arm and bowed.

“I will come to your apartment when the potion is complete.” he told them as he stood. “Do not return here unless it is to tell me Adrien has turned back.”

Nino nodded and Adrien stepped off the pillow and trotted over to his feet.

“Anything else we should know?” Nino asked as he put his arms through his bag straps.

“Keep spare clothes on you.” Master Fu held up a finger as he turned away. “When Adrien becomes human again he will have none.”

Nino and Adrien exchanged a concerned look before he picked him up and farewelled their mentor.

By the time they made it to the front door of the building and were prepared to head out, it was 3 AM.

3 AM, and beginning to rain.

“Oh, no!” Adrien squirmed and nearly fell out of Nino’s arms.

“Jesus, dude, sit still,” Nino complained, trying to make sure he didn’t step in a puddle on the way down the stairs.

“No, I don’t wanna get wet!” Adrien pushed up towards Nino’s head, pressing against his neck, clearly seeking shelter.

“Oh my god.” Nino sighed. “Stop it. You can hide in the jumper.”

Two painful minutes of wrangling, complaints and squirming later, Adrien’s head was tucked under Nino’s chin, and the rest of his body was snugly zipped up against Nino’s chest.

“Happy now?” Nino asked, pulling the hood over his face to add extra protection from the drizzly weather.

“Yeah,” Adrien said, and his ears tickled the skin of his best friend’s neck. “Where to now?”

“Home.” Nino informed, as though it were obvious, looking both ways before crossing despite knowing full well every street would be empty this time of night.

“I don’t think I can really explain to Père the reason I’m a cat right now,” Adrien said, watching the raindrops falling near the bulbs of the streetlights flicker like speckled halos.

“I’m not taking you back there.” Nino retorted. “We’re going _home_.”

“Are you sure?” Adrien craned his little cat neck up to look at him and his ears and whiskers really, really began to tickle. “I don’t want to impose… I can just find a box in an alleyway or something.”

“You’re not sleeping in a box, Adrien.” Nino snapped. “You’re coming home and you’re sleeping in a bed.”

“If you insist,” the little cat whispered as they turned a corner, and Nino could have sworn he heard a smile in the words.

“I do, I do insist,” Nino replied quietly, shifting his bag over his shoulder as he headed across an open square. “You bet your fuzzy little ass I insist.”


	3. Chapter 3

Nino couldn’t honestly say that today had been his worst day at school - because there had been many much, much worse - but it was definitely up there on the list.

He’d been questioned relentlessly about Adrien’s sudden disappearance sometime last night, and while he was well versed in the kind of half-truths and carefully worded sentences that constituted conversations surrounding identity bullshit, it was still exhausting to perform.

Poor Marinette was so worried about Adrien that it’d been the last straw for her already extensive stress and had a breakdown at lunch, and Alya had been sick all week, so Nino was late to Music History after taking care of Marinette. As he was exiting the grounds, a teacher had approached him to ask why he’d been touching a girl at school, and reminded him of the rules. He refrained from politely informing the teacher that Marinette wasn’t his girlfriend and that she had needed him because her PTSD didn’t care about school rules, and the exact location where the teacher could put those school rules.

Work was boring and tiring, and his manager kept ignoring that the grinder needed to be fixed.

And, to top it all off, his term paper draft was in complete disarray after the library encounter, and he would have to work very hard tonight if he was going to get it done.

And then he dropped his key outside his apartment and almost lost his cool.

Almost.

Adrien was lounging on the bed of his one-room apartment, carefully and procedurally pawing at the pages of a spiral notebook to turn them.

“Whatcha reading?” Nino asked as he dropped his bag by the door.

“Music History notes,” Adrien replied, getting up and jumping to the floor to trot over to Nino’s feet. “You’re gonna ace that test on Thursday.”

“Unless there’s an akuma, obviously.” Nino joked, heading for the kitchenette.

“Obviously,” Adrien chuckled.

“You hungry?” Nino opened the little fridge.

“A little?” Adrien peeked inside. “But I know I should only eat meat, just in case my stomach isn’t one of the things that stayed human.”

“I’ve got some chicken,” Nino offered, pulling out a container of leftover roast chicken. “I can heat it up for you?”

“Yes, please,” Adrien looked up at his friend, his tiny pink tongue flicking out a few times as if he were licking his lips. “Thank you, Nino!”

“No problem, dude,” Nino smiled and closed the fridge and stepped over his small furry friend to the microwave. “I mean, it’s kinda my job to help with this magic stuff, anyway.”

“Still,” Adrien padded over and gently headbutted Nino’s leg. “Thank you.”

“Did you send the messages?” Nino watched the open container spin inside the microwave.

"I couldn’t, sorry.“ Adrien’s little ears drooped. "My paws don’t register as fingers on your iPad, and neither does my nose. I tried all morning.”

“That’s alright,” Nino broke the chicken up into smaller chunks and put them on a small plate. “You eat, I’ll send some messages.”

By the time Nino had informed Ladybug of the miraculous hiccup as Carapace, and sent an encouraging message to Marinette as himself, Adrien had speared the last chicken chunk on his claws and was chewing it.

Nino then watched as Adrien sat himself down in the sink, sandwiched the plate between his paws and carefully brought it down under the faucet.

“Bro,” Nino put down his phone, smiling incredulously. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t wash it, the detergent would hurt my toes,” Adrien gave the tap handle a shove and turned on the cold water to wet his paws. “But I can make the effort to put it in the sink.”

He then proceeded to lick at his paw-pads and chew at his claws for a moment, before turning the water back off and hopping out of the sink.

“You’ve really got a handle on being a cat, huh?” Nino prodded.

“It’s a mixture, I think,” Adrien dropped to the floor with a dull thud and made his way over to the bed again. “It’s not so different from being transformed, I’m just smaller. And, I’ve been looking up stuff about cats for years. I want to make sure I’m taking care of Plagg right, even though I know he’s pretty different from a physical cat.”

“Yeah, I feel that,” Nino nodded. “I still think I should buy Wayzz a tank.”

“And I will continue to tell you that I appreciate the thought,” Wayzz told him kindly, floating over from his place in Nino’s hat on the bedside table to hug his cheek. “But it really is not necessary.”

“Also, I think Plagg’s in here with me,” Adrien said, pushing the notebook shut with a paw. “So some of it might be him.”

“Undoubtedly,” Wayzz informed, settling himself on Nino’s shoulder. “Kwamis use the bonding spell to share something with their holder. To best achieve the desired result, we share your body.”

“Like,” Nino frowned. “Like normal transformations?”

“In some ways, yes,” Wayzz nodded. “But this kind of magic removes the barrier between holder and kwami. You are not simply surrounded by us, we have become part of the same living being as you.”

“Have you ever done it before?” Adrien asked him.

“Yes,” said Wayzz. “But not for some time. My holders tend not to need too much guidance.”

“Speaking of guidance,” Nino checked his phone, which was loudly sounding an alarm. “Time to study.”

“Your term paper?” Adrien asked.

“Nope, guardian homework.” Nino leant down and pulled out a briefcase. “Term paper will have to be tomorrow.”

“Oh!” Adrien moved. “Should I leave?”

“No, no,” Nino replied. “You can be here. I probably wont make any breakthroughs tonight, anyway. I’m still stuck on this word.”

“What word?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t know how to pronounce it, and the translations really are not helping.”

“May I?” Adrien put his little paw on Nino’s leg.

Nino lifted his arms and Adrien crawled into his lap and settled between his crossed legs.

Nino pointed to the words on the page where he was stuck, and did a little explaining about the sentence and what he’d translated so far.

Adrien inspected the page for a minute or so.

“Oh!” he looked up at Nino with wide eyes. “You’ve got the wrong ‘shi’ here.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Nino gave a sigh. “I suck at this.”

“False.” Wayzz said from the hat again. “You’ve been doing exceptionally well so far.”

“There are, like, a billion versions of ‘shi’,” Adrien told him. “It’s understandable that you got stuck.”

Nino took a steadying breath and nodded.

“Right, okay, well,” he said, shifting the books and papers. “Let’s get back to it.”

He began to read again, and a gentle silence fell over the room. The odd muffled message sound from Nino’s ignored phone and the shuffling noises from the papers were all that broke it.

After about half an hour, Adrien moved, and Nino raised his arms to let him out.

“Oh, do you want me to…?” Adrien paused mid-reposition.

“No, you can stay there if you want, I just thought you weren’t comfy.” Nino told him.

“I was, but not, like…” Adrien manoeuvred into a loose curl and rested his chin on Nino’s knee. “I’d like to stay here, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Nino lowered his arms and went back to translating.

After a few minutes more, Nino found himself lightly stroking the soft fur between Adrien’s ears.

“Is… is this okay?” Nino paused.

“Yeah.” Adrien replied, his voice quiet.

So Nino went back to petting, and to studying, and barely noticed the soft rumbling radiating from his friend-turned-feline late into the night, until it began to fade away as Adrien fell asleep in his lap.


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien stepped forth, one paw, two paws, slowly moving his back left to the exact spot where his front left had been - because he knew stepping there had been safe - wary of the twig to his right and how it could foil him.

Somehow, he held his breath as he carefully moved all his limbs into position, coiling, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting seagull before him.

His ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps, and something in the back of his mind piped up about Nino and the locked window, but he ignored it.

The only thing that mattered was the hunt.

He leapt.

And halted in mid-air as a pair of hands wrapped around his middle.

The seagull flew away and he squirmed, wanting to go after it.

“Dude,” Nino whispered, pulling him against his chest. “ _No_.”

“C'mon, Nino, I wasn’t gonna kill him,” Adrien promised, but he couldn’t manage to make it not sound whiny. “I just wanted to see if I could…”

Slowly and gently, he brought his paws together in front of them.

“Y'know, catch him.” Adrien looked up.

“That’s Plagg talking.” Nino huffed.

“I’d sneeze and he’d get away anyway.” Adrien pouted. “One left a feather on the fire escape this morning and I sneezed so much I fell.”

“You fell off the fire escape?!” Nino hissed in distress. “ _From the top floor_?!”

“I’m okay,” Adrien said, squirming again. “My feet hurt, though.”

“Dude!” Nino squeaked and adjusted the cat in his arms so he could pull him up to his face. “What if you’d died?!”

“Nino, please, I’m okay, I promise.” Adrien sighed, and in his mind’s eye, clear as day, Nino saw the stupid apologetic smile he was beginning to miss.

All sixteen of Adrien’s little toes stretched and relaxed. Nino noticed one of the toe pads, the same toe with the grey mark on the top on his friend’s right front paw, was half pink instead of all black like the rest.

“See?” Adrien coaxed. “All fine.”

Nino huffed and pulled him close in a disgruntled hug.

“Yoo hoo! Nino!” came a voice.

Nino froze in place.

“Good afternoon, Mme. DeLuge,” Nino forced a smile.

“Is this your cat, Lahiffe?” the little old lady that lived on the ground floor hobbled over.

“Yea,” Nino nodded. “Brought him home the other day.”

“Well you should put a bell on him, love.” Mme. DeLuge waved a finger. “He’s been prowling after the poor birds since noon.”

“Has he, now?” Nino gave Adrien a dramatic look. “Thanks for letting me know, Mme. DeLuge. I’ll get him one.”

“Bless you, dear.” the old lady gave his arm a pat. “Oh, how’s your little boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Nino’s face heated up.

“The model boy from school you like so much,” Mme. DeLuge smiled. “How is he?”

“A-Adrien?” Nino choked. “Oh, well, he’s-he’s, uh, good. Yes, fine, he's… he’s good.”

“Wonderful.” the little old lady turned to amble away. “Tell him I said hello on your next date.”

“We don't…” Nino’s voice died halfway, so he shook his head in disbelief and just played along. “I, uh. I will. Have a lovely evening, Mme. DeLuge.”

“You too, dear.” she waved over her shoulder and disappeared into her apartment.

Nino swallowed and looked down at Adrien. Adrien only blinked his big green eyes at him.

It seemed his feline friend had no comment to offer about the exchange.

“C'mon.” Nino sighed, adjusting Adrien to one arm so he could pick up his bag from where he’d left it to halt Adrien in his bird-murdering tracks. “Let’s get you some dinner.”

===

Nino rubbed his eyes. They hurt from his glasses. He had finally, _finally_ finished his term paper, and now wondered what time it was.

His music… stopped, and then started up again, which surprised him. He searched for his laptop, intent on finding out what was going on, but remembered that, at some point, he’d moved to the floor.

Twisting his shoulders, Nino looked up onto the bed.

Adrien was curled next to his laptop, eyes closed and one paw outstretched and resting on the mousepad.

His paw had been keeping the laptop from falling asleep.

All night.

“Dude…” Nino sighed in appreciation.

“Mm?” came Adrien’s grumbly teetering-on-the-edge-of-sleep voice that usually made Nino shiver.

“Let me clear all this up and we can go to bed.”

“Sounds good…” came a second mumble.

Nino carefully packed his paper into his bag, then put the books away and closed and lowered his laptop to the ground.

“C'mere,” he picked Adrien up gently from where he’d been curled.

“Nooooooo…” Adrien complained sleepily. “I was comfy…”

“You can be comfy up here.” Nino said, lying down and tucking Adrien’s small body below the pillow at the head of his bed.

“Night, dude,” Nino said, putting his glasses on the nightstand.

“Goodnight, Nino.” Adrien rolled over and pressed his head into Nino’s face.

Nino felt something small and rough brush twice against his cheek, and realised it was Adrien’s little cat tongue.

Before he could say anything, he heard the tiny breathing pattern of his best friend deepen, and realised Adrien was finally asleep.

Nino did the same, but not without going warm in the face and having another existential crisis.


	5. Chapter 5

“Is this weird? This feels weird.” Nino said.

“I don’t think this is weird.” Adrien looked up at him through the mirror. “I like it.”

“We could just get you a blue one, dude,” Nino brushed his finger against the front of the collar. “Theyre the same price and they don’t have the bow.”

“I wear blue all the time, I wanna wear green.” Adrien shook his little head. “And I think the bow is cute!”

“Yes, it is cute.” Nino sighed. “I don’t know, dude, it just feels a little… weird.”

Adrien cocked his head the mirror.

“I’m happy with it, but if you want to get the blue one, then we can get the blue one.” Adrien said, this time turning his head to see Nino directly.

“It’s not that, dude, it’s just…” Nino frowned. “Buying you a collar at all is weird.”

“I can pay you back?” Adrien blinked.

“No, it’s not the money, Adrien,” Nino sighed and held him. “It's…”

Adrien was looking at him so expectantly, bright green eyes shining even in this tacky store.

He was cute normally, but this was criminally cute.

Nino didn’t know if the collar made it better or worse.

“Nevermind.” Nino cleared his throat. “Let’s go buy it.”

“Thank you, Nino!” Adrien made a kitty chirp and pressed his head under Nino’s chin elatedly.

Nino didn’t realise he was smiling about it until they’d walked out of the store.

===

“Marinette’s coming over.” Nino nudged Adrien’s curled up form. “So you need to not say anything.”

“Marinette’s coming here? Why?” Adrien perked to attention.

“Sometimes she stays here the night?” Nino shrugged.

“What?” Adrien frowned in confusion. “Why would she stay here the night?”

Then he gasped and moved to put both his front paws on Nino’s arm.

“ _Nino_ ,” the little black cat stared up at him. “ _Were you Marinette’s Secret Boyfriend the whole time_?!”

“Wh- _ **no**_.” Nino rolled his eyes. “And, nobody calls him that, dude.”

“Well  _ **I**_  don’t know who he is!” Adrien protested.

“It’s L…” Nino sighed. “Look, forget about it, she’s in good hands, okay? We have bigger problems right now.”

Adrien made what would have been a pout and went back to curl up on Nino’s pillow.

A knock at the door.

Nino got up and opened it.

“Hey,” Marinette waved weakly.

“Hey, Nettie,” Nino welcomed her into his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Adrien and Chat Noir both went missing.” she told him, looking terribly upset. “I’m worried about them.”

“Me too.” he held her tight. “But I’m sure they’ll be okay.”

Marinette nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.

“I won’t stay too long,” she promised. “I’ll stay at the boat tonight.”

“If you’re sure,” Nino let go of her. “Do you want anything? Food, a drink?”

“If you have some wine, that would be great,” Marinette admitted. “I might need it.”

“Nope, I don’t drink wine.” he shook his head. “Sorry, Nettie.”

“That’s okay,” she shrugged. “Got any new music?”

“I’m working on a new album.” Nino nodded. “Let me find my headphones.”

Marinette trod over to the bed to sit, because it was the only thing in the tiny apartment to sit on, and immediately gasped.

“You got a cat!” she squealed, grabbing Adrien and holding him close.

“Oh, yeah,” Nino replied, getting nervous as he dug through a pile of discarded clothes. “He’s a… rescue.”

“Oh, he’s gorgeous,” Marinette rubbed her face in Adrien’s side, smiling.

Adrien, had he had the ability, would have blushed furiously.

“What’s his name?” she asked, making kissy noises at him.

“Uhhh,” Nino panicked. “F-Fluffy.”

Adrien turned to look at him and gave him what he hoped would be read as an unimpressed expression. Marinette kissed his fuzzy face and he blinked and began to purr unwillingly.

“He likes you.” Nino smiled.

“I like him, too,” Marinette beamed and gave him a squeeze, and then sighed. “I… miss Chat Noir.”

“Me, too.” Nino replied. “But he’ll be back.”

He offered Marinette the headphones, and she gently placed Adrien back on the bed and took them and the laptop to peruse Nino’s work.

Adrien trotted his way around to Nino and Nino ran his hand along Adrien’s whole back in an auto-pilot pet.

“I’m sorry, Ni-Ni,” Marinette sighed and took the headphones off. “But I don’t think I’m feeling these right now.”

“That’s okay.” Nino took them back and put them on the floor. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Marinette considered a moment, but said nothing. Adrien, not wanting her to be miserable, walked across both their laps to reach up and give her a hug with his awkward kitty arms.

“Oh my god,” Marinette hugged back. “I think I’m in love with this cat.”

“Well, he’s mine. You can’t have him.” Nino huffed dramatically.

“Why not?” she pouted in false pleading. “Don’t you love me, Ni-Ni?”

“I do, but not enough to let you have a boyfriend  _and_  a cat when I have neither.” he shook his head and crossed his arms.

“What if he chooses me?” she teased.

Adrien, feeling playful, made eye contact with Nino and pressed his head right up into Marinette’s face and purred loudly.

“Traitor.” Nino grumbled. “After all I’ve done for you… This is how you repay me… Leaving me for another girl…”

Adrien felt bad, even though he knew it was only play, and went back to sit himself in Nino’s lap.

Marinette burst into laughter and Nino smiled and joined her and gave Adrien’s head a little pat.

“Can I kiss him one last time?” she asked, fiddling with her fingers.

Nino rolled his eyes and lifted Adrien over to Marinette for a smooch.

“Thank you, Ni-Ni,” Marinette kissed Nino’s cheek, too, and stood up to go. “I’ll see you at school.”

“Be safe, Nettie.”

After the door was closed, Adrien spoke again.

“…Is that what it’s like to kissed?”

Nino looked at him in shock.

“It’s nice.” Adrien sat down, looking at the door.

“You haven’t kissed anyone before?” Nino asked in disbelief.

“Not really, no.” the black cat replied.

Nino didn’t know what to do with that information, but he did want to comfort Adrien. He reached over and gave him a gentle pat.

“You’ll find someone who wants to kiss you.” Nino said softly, and then got up to take a shower.

“You think so?” Adrien asked, curling into a ball, tone not as bright as other times he’d spoken those words.

“I hope so.” Nino shook his head and took off his shirt. “You deserve to be kissed if kissing is what’ll make you happy.”

Adrien didn’t know what to say to that. He just blinked at Nino until he remembered Nino was getting undressed, and rolled over to face the window and give him some privacy.

Eventually, he dozed off, and only stirred again when Nino picked him up with his big strong hands to reposition them both on the bed for sleep. Adrien was semi-conscious long enough to feel the gentle kiss on top of his head, and then he was asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it seems to be taking a while but this fic absolutely has a few chapters to go, maybe two or three, i Promise im not abandoning it !


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one chapter left to go!!!!!!

“Dude.”

“Don’t say it.”

“ _Dude_.”

Nino put his hands to his face and sighed into his palms.

“In my defence,” Adrien squirmed again. “It’s very easy to get bored when I’m here all alone.”

Nino just took off his glasses to rub his eyes. Work had dragged on far too long the last two days, and he really was not in the mood to untangle Adrien from this red ball of wool Marinette had left here who-knew-where, who-knew-how-long-ago.

“I’m sorry.” Adrien said, very quietly, and Nino’s frustration subsided.

“This isn’t something you have to apologize for, man,” he reached out and picked at a bit of the wool.

“No, I know this has sucked,” his pet friend - best cat -  _ugh_.

Nino  _really_  needed sleep.

“And I haven’t made it any easier,” Adrien pointed out, rolling over and trying to move one paw. “And I’m sorry.”

“Stop, you’re gonna make it worse,” Nino sighed, and picked up the unravelled ball of cat - tied-up yarn - oh, he gave up.

It took him a good minute of tugging and pulling and awkward finger-work, but he managed to free Adrien.

After discarding the wool, Nino just picked Adrien up by the spindly cat arms and plonked his furry little body in his lap for an attempt at a hug.

“I’m sorry, too,” Nino sighed, and pet his little head. “I might be tired and stressed but I should be handling this better.”

“I don’t think there’s any precedent for how to handle this,” Adrien replied. “You might be handling it perfectly.”

“I’m trying to apologize for being mean, dude.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Nino sighed again, and lifted Adrien to kiss the top of his head, between his ears, right on the little gold patch. If Adrien could blush, he would.

“You get enough shit from your dad.” the boy with the glasses whispered.

Adrien deflated at the reminder.

“I know it’s really shitty of me,” Nino murmured. “But I kinda wanna let you stay a cat so you don’t have to go back.”

“I can’t stay a cat forever, Nino…” Adrien said softly.

“I know!” Nino replied. “I know you can’t, man, I just… wish I could actually help you when you’re human, too.”

His cat friend squirmed and he let go, only for Adrien to climb up around his shoulders, rubbing and nuzzling and purring.

“You already help me plenty, Nino,” Adrien smushed his fluffy cheek against the smooth human one. “All this magic stuff was above and beyond, I promise.”

“All I did was take care of you, dude.” Nino lifted a hand and stroked it along Adrien’s head and shoulders.

Adrien was getting very enthusiastic about this rubbing.

“I’ll always take care of you when you need it.” Nino took his glasses off to rub his eyes, and yawned.

“It looks like you’re the one that needs to be taken care of, right now, though.” Adrien dropped down off of Nino’s shoulders and hopped up to the bed. “Come take a nap.”

“No, man, I gotta, like, feed you and shit.” Nino protested weakly, standing up from where he’d sat on the floor to rescue Adrien from the cruel tendrils of the knitting fodder.

“We can eat later,” Adrien said, as if talking to a toddler. “For now, let’s take a nap.”

Nino squinted, considering. He  _was_  well and truly exhausted.

“C'mon, Nino,” Adrien trotted up to the pillow and walked in a little circle, the bell on his collar tinkling. “Take a nap with me.”

“I’m being extorted.” Nino shook his head and sat on the bed. “Bribed.”

“I’m not  _paying_  you to take a nap with me, Nino.” Adrien came over to press against his side.

“You’re manipulating me. With your cuteness.” Nino tugged off his shirt and lobbed it at the wall.

“‘Susceptible to cute cats’ is not one of the weaknesses I knew you had.” Adrien teased.

“My weakness is one black cat, specifically.” Nino corrected, holding up his pointer finger for emphasis, and kicked his jeans off, which landed halfway to the kitchen.

“Fan of Chat Noir, are we?” Adrien prodded.

“I’m a fan of you, yeah.” Nino flopped back and sighed. “Hard not to be.”

“Aww, Nino,” his furry little friend padded up to his face. “Even though I don’t look like a model anymore?”

Nino rubbed Adrien’s cheek with curled fingers.

“You don’t need to be hot for me to love you, man,” he mumbled, getting drowsy.

He decided to pause the physical affection long enough to pull up his blankets.

Adrien was presently too dumbstruck to be offended by the abrupt cancellation of his pets.

Nino… thought he was hot?

Nino  _loved_  him?

These things were things he should have already known.

Or… he’d thought he should already have known them. Kind of. He… he knew they were true.

But he did suppose this was the first time he was hearing it out of Nino’s mouth like this, and, for some reason, that changed things a little in his head.

Nino pushed his glasses a little further across the top of the nightstand and reached for his friend again.

Adrien took the opportunity to nudge his way under the blanket with Nino, and curl up under his chin.

Nino weakly tickled the soft fur on his tummy, and stroked the thicker fur of his spine, and nuzzled his head, and Adrien purred like a racecar for it.

Finally, on the very precipice of slumber, Nino smooched Adrien’s head one more time, and passed the fuck out.

Adrien considered the arm laying across his side, and the man it belonged to.

He was going to be human again in a day or two, he knew, and he also knew that once he was, he would have to go back to the mansion.

But Adrien didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay with Nino.

Being a cat wasn’t too bad. It was a little boring, but Nino played with him, and he was a little helpless, but Nino was taking care of him.

Adrien would stay a cat if he could stay with Nino, he decided, getting sleepy.

He pressed closer, snuggling right into Nino’s neck.

He didn’t want to leave ever again.

He wanted to stay with Nino.

He  _loved_  Nino, he realised as he fell asleep.

Adrien loved Nino.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehehehehehe how will it all end??? tune in next week to find out :3c


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